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Were there factions among gladiators and their schools that would be akin to the chariot races? If not were there any famous historical gladiator schools or owners outside the 4 they name in Rome (magnus, dacicus, Gallic, and Matutinus)? any names or references is much appreciated.

I came across the August issue of National Geographic and not suprisingly the cover picture of a murmillo gladiator caught my eye. The feature was an article explaining what was actually going in the arena compared to popular perceptions of Roman blood sports, and not a bad article as such, though I would like to comment on some of the assertions made in the article. Why would You Bring So Much Armour To A knife Fight? - Well, the gladiators sword did get quite small but remember this was a trend that developed over a number of centuries. The idea of a shorter sword is that the fight gets close in and fast, making for more impressive displays (the article stresses the need to perform for the public, though it neglects to point out that it was in the gladiator's interest to show off - it improved his chances of missio if he could not continue the fight). Perhaps more importantly the armour worn by gladiators was usually (not always) designed not to keep the gladiator alive, but to keep him fighting. The Romans wanted to see a professional fight, not a slaughter of men disabled by wounds. That might sound odd considering the other forms of arena killing, but it's all about context. Gladiators Fought For Show - To some extent, yes they did. The article does mention fights staged sine missio (No Mercy) and that one fight was advertised as using sharp weapons, but it is well known that gladiators often fought demonstration fights especially in wandering troupes who could not easily replace their fighters and blunt weapons, also used for training, were expected. Morning bouts were generally considered warm-up events and nobody expected deaths at that stage. The headline acts might well be more serious, sharp edges, a chance for the audience to decide fate, and so on. Gladiators Fought At Similar Skill Levels - Yes, this did occur, as for instance the account of a fight between Priscus and Verus at the Colosseum written by Martial, and famously the Emperor Titus gave both men victory and freedom for their epic duel. Whilst it is true that the public wanted a fair fight, sometimes it would not be possible to match people exactly or indeed it might not be wise to risk a star gladiator unnecessarily. So sometimes an expert would be matched with a tiro. The outcome was never certain, but highly probable. Gladiators Survived 90% Of The Time - The rate of survival is commonly stated as such, but this would be between experienced fighters with reputations, such that even if they lost a section of the audience at least would be rooting for them and call for missio. However, the odds of a tiro fighting his first match might well be considerably more dangerous, with the possibility of facing a more experienced man, less investment in training, and no reputation to spur public support. Some statistics suggest that one in three gladiators got invalidated out in training, and another one in three would die in their first fight. Our concepts of gladiator fights are often hopelessly distorted. Television and film usually show gladiators dressed in all sorts of get-ups and using weapons inherited from fantasy. Fights were strictly categorised into standard pairs and as the article does mention, controlled by referees. Gladiators Swore An Oath To Be Punished And Killed - Yep, very true. They were slaves, whether purchases or volunteers, and expected to obey their masters. "He vows to endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword." - Satyricon (Petronius) Further, Cicero outlines the stoicism and loyalty of typical gladiators... "Just look at the gladiators, either debased men or foreigners, and consider the blows they endure! Consider how they who have been well-disciplined prefer to accept a blow than ignominiously avoid it! How often it is made clear that they consider nothing other than the satisfaction of their master or the people! Even when they are covered with wounds they send a messenger to their master to inquire his will. If they have given satisfaction to their masters, they are pleased to fall. What even mediocre gladiator ever groans, ever alters the expression on his face? Which one of them acts shamefully, either standing or falling? And which of them, even when he does succumb, ever contracts his neck when ordered to receive the blow." - Letters (Cicero) Yet things weren't always so honourable or dramatic. Suetonius records how Caligula stopped a fight and scolded the assembled fighters for being too wussy. One man immediately sought to impress the Roman head of state by slaughtering his hapless colleagues with a trident. Caligula was apparently appalled at the sight (and that from a man recorded as killing a helpless gladiator as a mock victory) The article was overall quite good - and interestingly, printed the image of a full size gladiator sword across the bottom of a folding page!

If a foreign 19 year old young woman with the following features volunteered as a female gladiator in the ancient pagan Roman Empire's Colosseum and brutally defeated and killed many volunteer warlike northern barbarian male adult warriors such as Thracians, Illyrians, Celts, and Germans and many Hellenic male adult warriors such as Greek hoplites and Roman Legionnaires in the Roman Colosseum, how will the ancient pagan Romans react and interact with her? These are the following features of the foreign 19 year old young woman: 1. She is pale skinned, caucasoid, has built a body sexy by modern standards, fit, has breasts that are mildly bigger than the average size, and she is tall. 2. Her long straight hair is completely dyed with slightly dark green. 3. Her finger nails are painted with slightly dark green. 4. She wears a sleeveless backless top which covers most of her upper body down to the waist except the back and the arms. The whole top is colored moderate green. The top has no shoulder straps cause the straps are like that of a bra which means they are around the back. Also, the top has another strap that goes around the back of her waist in order to support the lower part of the top. The chest part of the top is shaped like that of a bra which means that it is shaped like that of a woman's breasts. This is also because the chest part of the top is also the one holding her breasts. The breasts shaped chest part of the top is colored slightly dark green and is made of leather. The breasts shaped chest part of the top exposes the upper parts of her breasts a bit (but not the nipples) cause the upper breasts shaped chest part of the top is essentially just a leather bra. 5. She wears a slightly dark green long skirt with two full slits on both sides which exposes both of her thighs. The slits almost reach her waist which kind of expose her buttocks. Since it is a long skirt with two full slits on both sides, that means that the long front garment part and the long back garment part of the long skirt are separated from each other and are not connected. The long front garment part of the long skirt has a cloth covered mildly heavy object hanging from below it and the back front garment part of the long skirt also has its own cloth covered mildly heavy object hanging from below it so that both the front part and the back part of the long skirt wouldn't swing wildly when a strong wind blows. This is because if the front part and the back part of the long skirt swings wildly by a strong wind, it will expose the young woman's panties which will cause great embarrassment for her. The long skirt is completely disconnected from the top of the foreign young woman which sometimes exposes the foreign young woman's belly button a bit. 6. She wears boots and fingerless gloves which are both colored moderate green. 7. Her socks are the same length as her boots and her boots' length is pretty much just ⅓ of her lower legs from the feet which means that ⅔ of the skin of her lower legs from the knees and the whole skin of her whole thighs are exposed. Her socks are moderate green. 8. She wears panties that are slightly dark green. Also, despite the breasts shaped chest part of her top being essentially a leather bra, she has another bra behind the breasts shaped chest part of her top and is her real bra that is colored slightly dark green. 9. She is not xenophobic and is actually friendly. She has no fear when it comes to interacting with foreign cultures. 10. She learned to speak fluent ancient Latin and ancient Greek despite them not being her native languages. 11. She carries two knives, two brass knuckles, a broadsword, and a polearm blade because she is an expert in some kind of foreign martial arts so she can at least defend herself in dangerous situations. As a volunteer female gladiator, she has brutally defeated and brutally killed many volunteer warlike northern barbarian male warriors such as Thracians, Illyrians, Celts, and Germans and many Hellenic male warriors such as Greek hoplites and Roman Legionnaires in the Roman Colosseum. She has also successfully defeated and brutally killed entire gangs and armies of bandits and pirates that tried to victimize her in the streets of Rome and in the seas and this became a rumour that spread quickly throughout all parts of the ancient pagan Roman Empire. 12. She is great at singing and dancing. She is an expert in non-Hellenic foreign sexy wild graceful energetic forms of dancing. Moderate green is different from slightly dark green cause moderate green is normal green while slightly dark green is slightly darker. She also has her own theme song and the theme song is this in the link below. Listen to it. It is on Youtube. https://youtu.be/FXWBbEBkjp0 This is the original lyrics for the song: [Verse 1] Tojikaketa doa no mukou te wo sashi nobasu naita koe Tonari no oto ni furi muite kieta Kotaemo shiranai ikari bakari de kaki midasareta sekai aga akaku mieteiku Yume ga kurikaeshiteiku youni mezameta [Pre-Chorus] Hanareta hitoriga tsunaida Komochi wa itami wo oshieta [Chorus] I only have one more hand left that I can play There ain’t no time so let’s do it now, I say I’m on a wave, yeah! A sea of flames! My soul is still the same But it has many names! Oh… [Verse 2] Why don’t you show me how much you love To rain down fire from high above? It keeps on flowing on and on Through your heart I can see through the steam It’s getting hot in the dust The bullets whiz through the air Is it curtains for us? You gonna trust They’re gonna tear your world apart Piece by piece [Pre-Chorus] A thundercloud Thundercloud Hammer is beating loud Soon it be coming down [Chorus] I only have one more hand left that I can play There ain’t no time so let’s do it now, I say I’m on a wave, yeah! A sea of flames! My soul is still the same But it has many names! Oh… [Chorus] I only have one more hand left that I can play There ain’t no time so let’s do it now, I say I’m on a wave, yeah! A sea of flames! My soul is still the same But it has many names! Oh… She has translated this song into two languages and the languages are ancient Greek and ancient Latin. She has a wireless molar mic that can be put inside the mouth so it will not be seen. She also has a music player and two very loud loudspeakers. In order to supply the music player, the two loudspeakers, and the wireless molar mic with electrical power, she has a solar power recharger and an electrical generator that can produce electricity. She got all of these from a time traveler. She uses the music player in order to play her theme songs in Greek and Latin. She uses the loudspeakers in many streets of the ancient Roman Empire even in front of the many diverse pagans of the ancient Roman Empire. There are times where she uses the instrumental version of the songs so that she can use the wireless molar mic to sing the Greek lyrics and the Latin lyrics and not let the music player do all the singing which is kind of like singing in Karaoke but the background music is pretty much the same as in the original music and not modified and degraded like in Karaoke. She mostly dances sexily and sings loud and sexily in ancient Greek and ancient Latin in many streets of the ancient Roman Empire in front of the various diverse pagan crowds. She does not want to entertain them but she just loves singing and dancing and she does not care what others think of her. Her dances are non-Hellenic foreign sexy alluring wild graceful energetic forms of dancing. It's as if she is alluring people with her dance but she actually does not mean to allure people cause the truth is that her dance forms are just sexy and she is actually not trying to allure anybody. Keep in mind that she fought as a gladiator in the Roman Colosseum while she is wearing her extremely foreign fashion that I wrote above. So how will the ancient Roman pagans react to these very foreign characteristics and her badass accomplishments as a warrior in the ancient Colosseum, the Roman streets, and the seas? How will the ancient Romans socialize and interact with her? How will the ancient pagan Romans react to her music and her dancing and singing sexily in many streets of the ancient pagan Roman Empire? I just want to know how culturally sensible the ancient pagan Romans are. Keep in mind that these are ancient PAGANS in the Roman Empire and not ancient CHRISTIANS in the ancient Roman Empire cause those two groups are very different culturally, socially, mentally, and morally. I know this is a weird question but I just want to know how culturally sensible the ancient pagan Romans are.

Ridley Scott reportedly wants to make a “Gladiator” sequel starring Russell Crowe. It would follow the successful film which utilized the many cutthroat and sprawling geographic lands of the Roman Empire. The challenge, however, stems from one crucial plot point in the original film from 2000: Crowe’sMaximus Decimus Meridius dies from a knife wound inflicted by the sinister and immature Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). ...via NY Daily News

Imagine yourself entering the public seats of a Roman arena. Would you expect a days entertainment? Displays of martial courage? Would you become excited and spellbound by the spill of blood? Or stare horrified at the sight of men mauled and mangled by wild animals? All these emotions are attested to in the Roman sources. Today we're alternately appalled and fascinated by the subject, noting parallels with modern attitudes and behaviour, wondering whether the love of violent competition is really so alien to us. Welcome to Gladiators & Beast Hunts, a book by Dr Christopher Epplett. The first impression is largely helped by the books cover, showing mosiac imagery many will be familiar with. Presentation maintains the standards we have come to expect of the publisher and the colour photographs in the centre section are both relevant and illuminating... ...continue to the review of Gladiators & Beasthunts by Christopher Epplett

Recently I 've seen a tin plated bucket found in a saxon grave in Britain, which was Byzantibne in origin, decorated with greek text (telling the lady owner to take care of her purchase), and in particular, a gladiatorial motif, showing a leopard and a gladiator in combat. The fighter is depicted with a sword, a round shield, and is naked. Now ordinarily I would simply class that as an image of a bestiarius and so forth, but the details of this image are a little odd. Is this evidence that some forms of gladiatorial combat continued past the ban of the lat 4th century? Is this how bestarii of the late empire fought? Or is this a picture celebrating a times gone by (which itself would be unsual for the Romans, they normally depcited life as they saw it)? I confess I'm intrigued. Thoughts, anyone?

We all know about gladiators to a greater or lesser degree. Who they were, what they did, and why they did it. However, it occurred to me that we tend to see gladiatorial combat as a phenomenon isolated from Roman history despite the strong inclusion of arena combat in Roman society. I therefore open the floor to our esteemed members and ask - What did gladiators do for Rome? What was the impact of arena combat on Roman society? Was it merely a manifestation of Roman brutaility an d religion, or did it become a feature of Roman sociology that shaped their history in any way? Citizens - Your thoughts?

Hi, I need some concrete evidence of which hand a retiarius used to hold and cast his net with. There is too much conflicting information around. Thanks Frank